


Venice: City Of Dreams

by expiredlove



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Fluffy, Fun, Holiday, Italian, Italy, Love, Love Locks, M/M, Tourists, Trip - Freeform, Vacation, accademia bridge, doge's palace, palazzo ducale, rialto bridge, tourist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 21:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12044241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/expiredlove/pseuds/expiredlove
Summary: Dan and Phil are on holiday in Venice, Italy, with two of their best friends. They discover the city with their unprofessional tour guide Phil and end their day with a romantic stop at the Accademia Bridge, which is known for its so called love locks.





	Venice: City Of Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Since Dan and Phil are on holiday this week I decided to write a fic about them, going on holiday in Venice, Italy.

"Venice..." Phil sighed happily as the group of four exited the airport. Dan, who had been looking forward to this spontaneous trip Bryony and Wirrow had invited them on, suddenly didn't seem that happy anymore. He was pulling at his jumper and bumped Phil's body with his shoulder.

"When I asked you what the temperature would be in Italy you told me it wouldn't be that hot! I'm the only guy here who's wearing a sweater in bloody 30 degree weather, Phil!"

"It was freezing in London, how was I supposed to know it would be hot here? And then again, it's summer, so you should have known better than to wear a sweater," Phil tried to defend himself. He tied the jacket he'd previously been wearing around his waist and smiled at Dan's annoyed expression. "Come on, Dan, it will be fun. We'll buy you a t-shirt later, I promise."

Dan, who wasn't planning on ruining their trip by complaining, nodded in silence. While the two of them had been talking, Bryony had tried her best to have a conversation with an Italian Vaporetto worker, and after she'd finally managed to get the four of them tickets, he let them on the boat. Dan felt a little bit uncomfortable, as he stood out like a sore thumb around all the predominantly smaller people, and on top of that he was wearing a jumper as well, while everyone else on the boat was wearing clothing suitable for the hot, Italian summer weather. Phil didn't seem to mind, though. He never really minded being different. This was something Dan had always admired. Phil never really fit in, but because he didn't mind the fact that he didn't fit in, he didn't really stand out either. 

Dan snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone poke his side. He didn't even need to look up to know it was Phil. 

"Look," he said, "everything is so beautiful." Dan smiled at the way the sun reflected in Phil's sparkly blue eyes, but after a few seconds he tore his eyes away from Phil and looked at the building Phil was pointing at. "That's the Palazzo Ducale," he said in his best Italian accent. "It's beautiful, but we won't be visiting it today. Bryony bought tickets for us to go there on wednesday, so today we're going to walk around and discover the islands. Does that sound like fun to you?"

Dan nodded, but he wasn't really listening to what Phil was saying. He didn't know much about architecture, but this building he was looking at was breathtakingly beautiful. He had heard Phil say something about it being a Doge's Palace and a museum. Phil, in contrast to Dan, had actually done some research on the city and its most popular buildings as well as its history. Dan hadn't had time to do that, so he just asked Phil to be his tour guide, which he was totally okay with. He had a way of bringing seemingly boring stories in a lighthearted and funny way, which made him a great guide. 

The Vaporetto moored and Dan took one last look at the way the beautiful salmon-coloured building contrasted with the sparkly blue sea, and let himself be dragged off the boat by Phil. Phil had grabbed his hand to do so, which wasn't something unusual for the two of them, they were dating after all, but they still weren't very comfortable with displaying their relationship in public. Dan was about to pull his hand away when Phil gave it a tight squeeze. "There are thousands of people here," he said.

"Exactly," Dan replied, "so why aren't you letting go of my hand?"

"There are thousands of people here," Phil repeated, "Thousands of tourists who are all doing their own thing. We're literally swarmed by tourists, they won't notice two other tourists holding hands. Relax, babe."

Dan bit his lip and thought about it for a while, but then he decided to just go with the flow. Phil was right, people were minding their own business. They were two tourists who wanted to enjoy their trip to this beautiful city, just like everybody else here. Maybe he should just ignore his thoughts for a few days. He could worry again when he was back in London, there was no time to do that now. They had too many places to visit, too much Italian food to try and above all, too many memories to make. 

So he allowed himself to let Phil hold his hand and drag him to the San Marco square. The four of them walked around for a few minutes until they finally found a spot where they wouldn't burn alive, and Phil started speaking.

"Welcome, friends, to the famous San Marco Square in Venice, Italy. As you know, the Palazzo Ducale is right behind me, but more on that later, when we can actually go inside. Today, we're just going to be walking around the city and exploring it, making a quick stop at the Rialto Bridge, of course, and we're ending our day at the Accademia Bridge. This bridge was originally made out of steel, but in 1933 this design was replaced by a wooden bridge. I'm quite intrigued by the idea of a wooden bridge, so that's why I want to go there. Anyway, let's go, follow me!" He ended his speech by putting his right hand in the air and gesturing for his company to follow him. Dan took a small sprint and put his arm around Phil's shoulder.

"You read a lot about Venice, didn't you?" He asked with a fond smile on his face.

Phil turned his face to the left and looked into his eyes. He nodded and smiled proudly. They talked a bit and looked at the shop windows of all the expensive stores, which they found quite entertaining. Every store had a guard in a suit at the door and they felt way too intimidated to even enter one of the many fancy stores. This was strange, because the two of them had become so wealthy over the years that they could easily afford the Yves Saint Laurent t-shirt Phil had pointed out to Dan.

"I'd rather have that one," he had said. Phil turned around to see a stall, filled with shoddy goods made for tourists. He let out a loud laugh.

"Well, go pick a t-shirt!" Phil said, and Dan walked towards the stall. After a few minutes he came back, wearing a gondolier hat and a baby pink t-shirt with the words "I Love Venezia" printed on it in a glittery font. Bryony couldn't contain her laughter at the sight of her friend. "Wow, you took the tourist look to a whole new level, didn't you?"

Dan high fived Wirrow and answered, "Yup. If I'm going to be a tourist, I might as well do it right."

"I don't want to have to walk next to you," Phil groaned and took a few steps backwards, as if to say 'I'm not part of this group', but Dan just wrapped his arms around him. 

"Well, guess what? I got you a t-shirt too." He reached into the plastic bag he was holding and threw a red and white, striped t-shirt at Phil, who groaned once again. 

"Seriously?!" He asked, but after being peer-pressured into wearing it and making a quick stop at the public toilets, so he could change into his new outfit, the four of them were on their way again, looking like the most obnoxious tourists in the entire city. 

After a short walk and pushing past massive loads of tourists, the couples arrived at the Rialto Bridge.

Phil was about to open his mouth, when Bryony spoke up. "The Ponte De Rialto was built in 1591 by some kind of Venetian architect who's been dead for over four centuries and it has a width of almost nine metres." She was making extreme, exaggerated gestures with her hands while speaking.

"Hey! Stop mocking me," Phil said and held his hands up in fake offense, but he couldn't hide the smile that had appeared on his face. "Whatever. You basically told my story, let's just take some pictures with it and move on, it's way too crowded here for my liking."

So that's how Dan and Phil ended up standing on a jetty, posing for at least ten minutes until they finally got the cute pictures they wanted. They weren't sure if they were going to post any of these yet, but they were nice, personal memories anyway. Dan loved taking pictures of all the places they'd travelled together. He liked to look at them when he was feeling down, or when he felt like he was wasting his life away. These pictures were a nice reminder that he'd already achieved a whole lot in his life and that he'd already seen so much of the world. They made him feel lucky, happy, even. 

After they'd taken a set of pictures of their friends with the bridge, Dan was once again sweating and complaining. "Can we just go get some ice cream? It's awfully hot. I know we already had ice cream at the airport, but I'm literally dying over here."

So that's exactly what they did. They stopped for ice cream and while walking, they stumbled across a beautiful, serene square where they paddled for a while. The cold water felt amazing and Phil could proudly tell his mum that he'd stood in the Mediterranean Sea now, which was one of his goals. They ate their ice cream and enjoyed the sun for a while, when Phil ushered them to go to their next destination. It was late in the afternoon and they still had quite a long way to go until they were finally at the Accedemia Bridge, especially with Phil and his navigation skills (or lack of, rather) as their tour guide. 

They were getting a bit tired, but the city was so beautiful that they didn't mind strolling around. They had exited the expensive area of the city and had now entered a beautiful residential area, which happened to have a few small stores. They looked at quite a few of them and after Bryony had been longinly staring at one particular necklace in the etalage of one of the stores, she had received it as a present from her partner. It was a beautiful, blue, heart-shaped necklace, which was made on the Glass Island they'll be visiting in a few days, Murano. The four of them all believed in collecting knick knacks and making memories. Collecting souvenirs was part of that. Dan smiled at the thought of him and Phil wearing their brand new, ugly touristic t-shirts in their next gaming video. The fans would hate them for buying such meaningless and ugly souvenirs, but to Dan, these t-shirts were much more than that. They represented fun and good times, plus, Phil somehow managed to pull the piece of clothing off, which made it an even better purchase. Totally worth the 5 euros he had spent on it.

They stumbled upon a traditional Italian restaurant, right when their stomachs had began grumbling. They were invited to sit down by a kind, slightly overweight waiter and were immediately offered menus and drinks, which they gladly accepted. The hot weather had made them very thirsty and they weren't about to resist a nice glass of wine. They looked at their menus and ordered pizzas, carefully avoiding the mysterious black spaghetti they had seen a girl at the table next to theirs order, and ate the deliciously prepared Italian food. After sharing a sherbet with Phil, Dan felt satisfied and happy. This first day had definitely been a succcess. 

They paid the bill and once Dan had eaten every last bit of the sherbet, Phil offered him his hand. "Wanna go on an evening stroll with me? We still have to go to the Accademia Bridge."

Dan gladly accepted his hand. "Of course."

As the sun began to set, the couples walked around the city, past a man who was playing a familiar, quiet song on an acoustic guitar. He sang Italian words in his hoarse voice while strumming the strings of the instrument and it made their walk all the more romantic. They followed the signs that led them to the Accademia Bridge, when suddenly Bryony and Wirrow were stopped by a strange looking man. Dan and Phil stopped as well, ready to protect their friend from this strange pervert, when he started speaking.

"Hello, Bellissima," He said in a charming voice, and Wirrow put his arm around his girlfriend in a protective way and she immediately leaned into his touch. Phil's grip on Dan's hand unintentionally tightened as the two of them watched the situation unfold. 

"Ah, hello, Sir," The stranger was directly speaking to Wirrow now. "I think I've got something you'd like to buy."

Wirrow immediately shook his head. "No, we're not interested, thank you." And he pulled Bryony with him, but the man, who didn't want to let them go this soon, grabbed Bryony's wrist. Bryony tried to shake her wrist out of his tight grip, but he didn't let go of her and Dan decided to join the narrative.

"What do you want?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"I want you to make memories, and that's exactly why I want you to hear me out."

Bryony sighed and motioned for the man to go on with her hand.

"Thank you," he said in his strong Italian accent and smiled at her. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to the four of them. "So, as you can see, I've got a locket in my hand. Do you know why I want to sell it to you?"

"No, we don't." Dan answered his question, still feeling annoyed. He was ready to pull his friends away from the man, he didn't trust him at all.

The strange man smiled. "Well, there's this bridge around the corner," He pointed at the corner they were about to turn, before the man had interrupted their evening stroll. "There's this thing that couples do and it's very romantic. They buy a so called 'love lock' and write their names and sometimes a date of when they got together on the padlock. Then they lock it onto the railing of the Accademia bridge and throw the key into the water. It's a way of expressing their love for each other and by locking the relationship, you're basically promising each other forever, isn't that beautiful? I thought that maybe you would like to do the same."

Bryony struggled a bit to understand what he was saying, since his accent was hard to understand, but she knew what he was trying to say. Before she could reply to his story, she was interrupted by a voice that hadn't been heard much that evening.

"Let's buy one!" Phil squealed. "Isn't that romantic? We'll only be here in Venice for a few days, but isn't it amazing to know that there will always be a part of us here in this city?"

Dan looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he knew not to make fun of Phil's little rituals and ideas, so he just nodded. "I guess."

They looked at their friends, who didn't look that fond of the idea, but Phil tried to convince them anyway. 

"Come on, guys! It will be fun. We can buy two locks, one for you and one for us. It's another memory we're making together, you'll regret it if you don't do it."

Bryony sighed deeply and mumbled a quiet 'alright' while reaching into her purse to pay for the locks, but the man stopped her. 

"No, no, Bellissima. The man should pay for his girl."

Dan, Wirrow and Phil all rolled his eyes at the extremely annoying man who was clearly stuck in the 1940's with his stereotypical ideas about women and relationships, but Wirrow handed him the money anyway. The stranger gave them the padlocks, keys and two Sharpies in return. Bryony took one of them from her boyfriend and she handed the other one to Dan and Phil. They turned the corner and finally arrived at the Accademia Bridge. Dan gasped at the beautiful sight and took Phil's hand as they walked up the stairs of the bridge. They parted with the other couple for a minute or two, so they could write their names on their lock themselves and reminisce for a while, of course. They searched for a spot where not many locks had been locked yet, and eventually they found the perfect spot, with a beautiful view of the Canal Grande and the city of dreams and romance.

"Wow," Dan whispered while staring into the distance. The sun was setting and the rays of sun reflected beautifully onto the water, which gave the entire city an ethereal glow. Phil joined him and wrapped his arm around Dan's waist, leaning his head against Dan's. "Wow indeed."

Phil rubbed soft circles onto the small of Dan's back as the two of them stood in silence and admired the beauty the world had to offer together. 

"Can you believe we've come this far?" Dan asked quietly and turned his face to look at Phil. 

"No," he whispered back, "it's unfathomable. Our success, our career, our world. It's strange, when you're in a city you don't know, surrounded by people you don't know and who probably don't know you, you're ripped from that entire world we've created. It's like it doesn't exist, it feels like a distant dream, doesn't it? We're Dan and Phil, with our Internet careers and millions of fans, but in this city, right now, it feels like none of that is real. It feels like we're the insignificant Dan and Phil from 8 years ago. Right now, we're not a brand, we're not a ship, we're just us. Two normal boys in an overwhelming city, surrounded by the sea."

Dan slowly leaned in, linking his fingers with Phil's, and before he pressed his lips against his lover's, he whispered "We're not insignificant, never have been. Not you.". Their lips moved slowly and Dan heard the soft snap of a camera, which startled him at first, but then he realized that it didn't matter anyway. If a fan had photographed them kissing, then it wouldn't matter if they took another picture. The cat would be out of the bag, so he wasn't going to let anyone take this moment away from him. When Phil finally pulled away, he loosened his grip on Dan's hands and grabbed the lock from his pocket. In his awful handwriting, he wrote, "D + P", and on the back of the metal object he messily drew a heart. Dan smiled and they sunk down to their knees to lock the lock to the bridge. They intertwined their fingers again and Phil whispered 'forever' in Dan's ear as he threw the small silver key into the water. They leaned over the edge of the bridge and watched as the key slowly sunk and disappeared.

When they turned around, they saw that their friend Bryony had filmed everything. She was standing there with her phone pointed at the two of them and Dan sighed in relief. "You were the one who took that picture, weren't you?"

She giggled and nodded proudly, "Yeah, it turned out really well. Looks amazing with the sunset and everything. I'm sure you're going to want me to send it to you so you can use it as your lockscreen."

Phil smiled, "Send it to me as well, please?"

Bryony laughed and nodded, and all of them continued their stroll to their hotel, excited to spend four more days in this magical place.


End file.
